Capital markets and financial institutions are all around us. This is an enormous industry in which powerful players oftentimes challenge investors and the public at large and expose them to significant risks.
This Course provides for the deep understanding of the core ideas, concepts, and mechanisms of the modern capital market in a learner-friendly way. We will analyze the market’s most fundamental problems, realize the intrinsic interests of the market participants, reveal the true meaning of certain financial terms, and uncover credible signals of the likely behavior of economic agents – all that with little math and a lot of fun.
The learners will be much better positioned with respect to the financial environment. They will see through the financial news, reveal the risks of the financiers’ wishful thinking promises, and protect themselves against dangerous adventures. The learners will get the opportunity to use the obtained knowledge, skills, and understanding for the successful professional career in the financial and other business areas, as well as in their day-to-day life.

Week 3 of the Course is devoted to the analysis of creation of liquidity – namely, we do answer the question of how a bank attracts depositors. You will get introduced to asset transformation and will learn how the presence of banks in capital markets makes the money circulation in the economy more efficient. You will analyze the market participants’ preferences and the “safety cushion” of a bank.
We will study the mechanism of bank runs and feel how vulnerable the bank is with respect to runs. You will learn what methods of fighting bank runs have been used in centuries, and realize why the role of government in regulating of the banking business is so important. We will discuss deposit insurance as a universal and effective mechanism of preventing runs.